{"title":"Understanding learners’ relationships with music","authors":"Juha Ojala, Ulla Pohjannoro","doi":"10.1177/1321103x241235575","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x241235575","url":null,"abstract":"Relationships with music are at the core of music education. However, they are rarely studied from learners viewpoints—especially those of exceptionally motivated, advanced students—as they are incorporated into the theoretical underpinning or methodological stance of research in instrumental education. In this research project we follow the musical lives of ten advanced, mastery-oriented adolescent instrumentalists. The focus of this first report of our narrative ethnography is on how their relationships with music manifest in written narratives on the role of music and instrument learning in their life. While corroborating findings of previous research, the results demonstrate many idiosyncracies in the trajectories of our participants, including critical events. The results show that studying relationships with music and their development may reveal complex ecological systems in instrument learning and interconnected theoretical concepts, such as self-regulation, self-efficacy, agency, autonomy, identity, and metacognition. These phenomena—which can be challenging to differentiate, adapt, and apply in terms of learning practices—may seem far-removed from everyday musical practices, but can be consolidated when looking at relationships with music as gateways to the learning of musical instruments.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140617257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sandra Trienekens, Juan Carlos Escobar Campos, Lili Schutte, Melissa Bremmer
{"title":"Who has access to a career in Western classical music? Building a tool to evaluate intersectionality in barriers to music education and careers","authors":"Sandra Trienekens, Juan Carlos Escobar Campos, Lili Schutte, Melissa Bremmer","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231224229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231224229","url":null,"abstract":"This article reflects on the “Hiddenness Index” we developed, implemented, and evaluated for Concertgebouworkest Young (Young), the youth orchestra of the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Concertgebouworkest) for musicians with “hidden talents.” “Hiddenness” alludes to various barriers that young musicians aspiring to a career in Western classical music may face, due to their social identity and positioning. These barriers may cause their talent to remain underdeveloped, invisible, or undiscovered; that is, “hidden.” We developed the Index in response to Concertgebouworkest’s request for an “evaluation and learning tool.” Informed by intersectionality theory, it is an alternative to quantitative research into arts and culture, which takes a single-axis approach to the explanation of inequality in access to cultural production and participation. The first phase of our design-based research consisted of a theory- and practice-based mapping of the dimensions of “hiddenness.” The outcome was that Geographical, Socio-economic, Family networks, Ethno-cultural, and Confidence-support dimensions should form the basis of the Hiddenness Index, which was constructed as a composite indicator. In the second phase of research, the Index was applied to the backgrounds of Young participants. The evaluation of the Index’s strengths and weaknesses was central to the third phase. Complementing qualitative research, the Index offered a statistical way to evaluate the extent to which Young participants’ talents were hidden and which dimensions of hiddenness were most prevalent at the group level. The Index affirmed and illustrated intersectionality theory, including the way two or more dimensions can compensate or reinforce one another. Through the use of the Index, the Young team gained a better understanding of intersectionality, which enabled them to fine-tune the selection process for future cohorts. The Index helped the team members to check their preconceptions (unconscious bias) and made them more aware of and able to attend to the different needs of individual participants.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"174 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public scholarship in music education: Rethinking academic freedom by unthinking method","authors":"A. Kallio","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231218564","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231218564","url":null,"abstract":"Beyond the political interference of authoritarian regimes, the neoliberalisation of the academy has emerged as one of the key threats to academic freedom in the twenty-first century. The demand to produce research outputs of sufficient quantity, quality, and impact for scholars to justify their taxpayer-funded appointments reconceptualises the responsibility of the public scholar from one who challenges the status quo and inequitable power relations, to one who provides a worthwhile return on investment. Accordingly, questions have been raised as to whether academia is a feasible realm in which to further ideals of equity and justice in music education. In this article, I examine the tension between critical imperative and methodological conformity, considering how the policing of method reinforces individualized frames of knowledge-production that fix and limit notions of what knowledge is and what it does. I argue that music education scholars may be well placed to deviate from procedural method in realizing a more creative and relational public scholarship, in working toward a more ethical conceptualisation of academic freedom through the inquiry process itself.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"1988 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139160509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A sensory-friendly adaptive concert model supported by caregiver perspectives","authors":"Jenna Richards, Erin Parkes","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231214113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231214113","url":null,"abstract":"Attending a concert may prove difficult for individuals with exceptionalities or disabilities and those who support them. While traditional performance environments may not feel welcoming or amenable for individuals with exceptionalities and their families, arts organizations have recently made efforts to produce concerts that address barriers to accessibility. These adaptive concerts, most frequently labeled as Sensory-Friendly Concerts, attempt to create environments suitable for diverse communities, supporting individuals and groups who are frequently underrepresented as audience members in performance contexts. This article explores adaptive music performances, contributing a model for sensory-friendly adaptive concerts supported by caregivers’ perspectives through a post-concert survey. The model proposed includes four areas of adaptation: pre-show work, environment audit, extra-musical aids, and programming adjustments. The authors outline the various modifications with data points from a sample of adaptive concert caregiver attendees ( n = 15), aligning the theoretical model with practice to provide practical examples and tangible outputs for researchers, presenters, musicians, educators, and policymakers.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"272 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139161046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephanie L R MacArthur, Jane W Davidson, Amanda E. Krause
{"title":"Interpreting 7-year-old beginner cellists’ experiences of practice","authors":"Stephanie L R MacArthur, Jane W Davidson, Amanda E. Krause","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231209717","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231209717","url":null,"abstract":"Practice is essential to the acquisition and development of musical skills, requiring musicians’ time, investment, application, motivation, metacognitive strategies, and ability to self-regulate. Research in children’s music practice indicates the type, quality, and duration of practice, along with adult support, contributes to fluency in musical development; and when progress occurs, children invest in further practice. However, nuances in children’s lived experiences of musical practice that influence these critical factors are largely unknown. To understand the complex issues in children’s practice, this study employed a unique pairing of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Participatory Action Research to investigate 14 seven-year-old beginner cellists’ practice during early learning and explored how their thoughts and experiences evolved over the first 18 months of lessons. Providing rare insight into children’s perceptions of musical development and the vital role of parents and teachers in nurturing engagement, three superordinate themes emerged: (a) four approaches to practice, characterized by practice structure, learner behavior, and family support, (b) a three-phase practice process, and (c) perfection ideation. Positive experiences, including creative activities, within these thematic contexts fostered children’s enjoyment in early musical development, supported productive learning interactions, and sustained engagement. Together, the findings have meaningful pedagogical implications for instrumental music teaching practice.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"222 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139259133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building professional resilience: School music teachers’ instructional practice development under curriculum reform","authors":"Yang Yang, Le-Xuan Zhang","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231209692","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231209692","url":null,"abstract":"This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the characteristics and development of teachers’ resilience profiles during ongoing school music curriculum reforms in mainland China. During a 12-month voluntary teacher development project, seven mid-career schoolteachers based in Shenzhen City, South China, helped collect longitudinal data on their resilience profiles and instructional practices. Inspired by Mansfield’s resilience model, this study developed a model of the essential dynamics in the resilience development process of individual teachers. The working model mapped the identified factors of teachers’ resilience development into a coordinate system that incorporated two approaches (receptive and autonomous) to resilience building, with two scenarios (mandatory or conditional) in curriculum implementation. The findings suggested that (a) teachers exhibited different resilience properties shaped by both personal and contextual factors, as well as the connection pathways between factors, and (b) teachers used a variety of strategies to build resilience to policy and environmental constraints, including mentoring, peer support, problem-solving, relationship management, and pedagogy innovation. These strategies were mapped onto a functional model for resilience development in curriculum implementation, which further extended the application of Mansfield’s conceptual framework to teacher education programs. Although this study recognized the value of quantitative research instruments in capturing resilience profiles, the ecological validity and reliability concerns of these measurements were also discussed.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"62 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139268384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lisa Huisman Koops, Kelsey Kordella Giotta, Jessica L G Steuver, Julie Ballantyne
{"title":"Music teacher mothers’ career navigation during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Lisa Huisman Koops, Kelsey Kordella Giotta, Jessica L G Steuver, Julie Ballantyne","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231206017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231206017","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this narrative case study was to re-present and re-story the experiences, particularly related to career navigation, of music teacher mothers in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explored how music teacher mothers had to adjust the balance between work, family, and personal life during the pandemic, in what ways the pandemic may have changed the way music teacher mothers parent, and how the pandemic may have affected, or already changed, music teacher mothers’ long-term career goals. Three participants, selected based on the diversity of their family structures, teaching backgrounds, and locations, shared their stories through a series of two interviews conducted via Zoom. Participants’ stories illuminated the relational, vocational, financial, and health-related struggles brought about by the nexus of teaching music during the pandemic. We explore resonances between their stories related to priorities, boundaries, career decisions, and financial considerations.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"122 39","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136352022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Female and feminine-presenting band directors’ experiences with gender microaggressions in the United States","authors":"Heather Nelson Shouldice","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231205809","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231205809","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study was to explore female and feminine-presenting band directors’ experiences with gender microaggressions in their work. Data consisted of survey responses ( N = 974) from current, former, and aspiring band directors living and/or teaching in the United States. The most frequently experienced types of gender microaggressions were second-class citizenship, restrictive gender roles, and environmental microaggressions. Younger individuals, college instructors, and those in the South tended to experience certain microaggression types more frequently than did other directors. Open-ended descriptions indicated a variety of common experiences within each of the nine types of gender microaggression, the most frequent of which was being called a demeaning name (e.g., sweetie, honey, and young lady). The most stressful/bothersome types were second-class citizenship, assumptions of inferiority, and restrictive gender roles, and correlations between frequency and stressfulness were strongest for leaving gender at the door, denial of individual sexism, and denial of the reality of sexism. Implications include the need to develop awareness of, combat, and prevent gender microaggressions in the secondary band profession and to provide opportunities for teachers of all genders to be recognized and valued for their work.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":" 969","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135186846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Children as songwriters: The social-emotional benefits of songwriting in the elementary grades","authors":"Julienne Dweck","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231189387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231189387","url":null,"abstract":"Songwriting has been used in music therapy for decades to help address trauma, alleviate depression and build confidence in both children and adults. With components that great music education models point to—composition, agency, collaboration, and means for self-expression, songwriting seems to be a useful tool for music educators as well. Yet, songwriting is rarely found in a general music educators’ curriculum in a substantial way. This study investigates the stories of eight students who engaged in a robust songwriting program in their elementary school years (children aged 6–12 – referred to as middle childhood). The students share their experiences with songwriting in detail and leave us wondering why songwriting has not been incorporated as an integral part of music education curricula and how this can be changed.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135758788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The use of music therapy techniques as an educational tool: A systematic review","authors":"Gonzalo Marcos Treceño, Ana Rosa Arias Gago","doi":"10.1177/1321103x231192370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x231192370","url":null,"abstract":"The use of music therapy techniques has recently extended into the educational realm to help overcome learning difficulties, support emotional management, and assist students to develop necessary social skills. This is known as educational music therapy (EMT). Current educational policies give ever greater importance to the fostering and development of core social skills and competencies as decisive factors in overall educational success. Thus, teachers are being encouraged to explore interdisciplinary and creative collaboration and to innovate and incorporate new, more active, teaching methods to enable students to meet these educational objectives. This article comprises a systematic review of 34 research studies from 13 countries concerning the use of EMT over the last 15 years. The authors have identified uses of EMT in general teaching and in music education. The PICO(C) framework was used to develop the research question and the PRISMA diagram was used to determine the criteria for exclusion or inclusion of studies for review. The results from all studies considered agree that music therapy has benefits at all contexts and levels of education. The studies examined are diverse in terms of design, application, and procedures, and music therapy and music education techniques largely coincide in their educational objectives: improving inclusion, learning outcomes, and well-being among students. In conclusion, there is a two-way process of transfer between music education and EMT, and the addition of EMT techniques as another innovative method within teachers’ repertoires could have many benefits in education. The added value can be found in the way this review relates different studies, revealing those dimensions that would benefit from further study as well as exploring the decision-making process around their potential applications.","PeriodicalId":45954,"journal":{"name":"Research Studies in Music Education","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135044561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}